WNBA in talks to have charter travel for all 12 teams this season
The WNBA is looking to do something big for its 12 teams for the 2024 season when it comes to travel. According to Christine Brennan of USA Today, the league is in discussions to start charter travel for all 12 teams starting this year.
“Why now? The explosion of interest in the league, business growth and anticipated future revenue from the next media deal,” Brennan wrote in her X (formerly known as Twitter) post.
Traveling has been an issue for the WNBA. Unlike the NBA, WNBA teams primiarly fly commercial per the collective bargaining agreement. The league previously said it would cost about $25 million to charter the entire season, according to the Associated Press.
In April of last year, the WNBA announced it would expand its charter flights program for the players. It included flights for all postseason games ” beginning with the start of 2023 WNBA Playoffs through the WNBA Finals, the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game, and select regular season games where teams have back-to-back games on the schedule.”
“We continue the hard work of transforming the business of the league, and the ability to expand this program is a direct result of that,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said at the time. “Since joining the league a few years ago, a goal of mine has been to enhance the overall player experience and, in that regard, make incremental improvements where we are able to do so and when we believe the economic model would support it for the long-term. I’m pleased that we are able to broaden the program this year for the players. As the league continues to grow, we will look to do more in the future.”
The WNBA’s growth was on display in 2023
The WNBA is a league on the rise largely because of what happened this year. Caitlin Clark was selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever, and she is expected to be a mega-star for the league. But as big as Clark has been for the WNBA, last season showed that the league is growing when it comes to attendance and viewership.
In September, it was announced that the WNBA had its most-watched regular season in 21 years, averaging 627,000 viewers on ABC. The league also had overall 36 million total unique viewers across all national networks, the highest since 2008 and up 27 percent from 2022. The average attendance was 6,615 fans, the highest since 2018.